no chemo after surgery of lung nodule?

jenny007

my boyfriend will have a 2cm lung nodule removed next week (PET picked up the nodule and doctor wants it removed even it may be benign), the doctor never mentioned chemo after the surgery, he sounds very confident about the operation, should we ask for chemo anyway?

Limey

Often times if the prognoses is fairly good, they may not discuss chemo until after they get in there and look around. I remember back in 2004 whedn i had surgery, I was so blown away, It never occured to me until after the surgery to discuss chemo. Then the dr. told me that it went so well that no chemo was needed. I did get a 2nd opinion but not for 6 months and it turned out that chemo whas needed.

Your boyfriend is the patient and he should ask his questions before surgery and also after. He should ge a 2nd opinion if he is not comfortable with the doctors reccomendations.
Good Luck
Mark.

nudgie

Limey said:

Often times if the prognoses is fairly good, they may not discuss chemo until after they get in there and look around. I remember back in 2004 whedn i had surgery, I was so blown away, It never occured to me until after the surgery to discuss chemo. Then the dr. told me that it went so well that no chemo was needed. I did get a 2nd opinion but not for 6 months and it turned out that chemo whas needed.

Your boyfriend is the patient and he should ask his questions before surgery and also after. He should ge a 2nd opinion if he is not comfortable with the doctors reccomendations.
Good Luck
Mark.

I agree with Mark. If the lung nodule is from the cancer spreading, then I would seriously discuss chemo after surgery, but if the nodule is benign then you probably won't need chemo.

cjf2006

I really hesitate to give advice on this. Giving medical advice is tricky business. I don't like chemo, but it is what has kept me alive. I would lean toward it, if the doctors recommend it, because you don't want to get cancer established in the liver. I have innumerable mets in my lungs, but they don't bother me. What is giving me trouble is the damage to my liver from the innumerable mets there. Yet there is still much that can be done with early detection. One small tumor in a liver can be handled a lot better than "innumerable metastases".

Your boyfriend is so young to have colon cancer. But youth is on his side as well. I would recommend a nutritional approach to boost his immune system, especially if the drs don't suggest chemo. Read some good books on the topic, (eg Patrick Quillin's "Beating Cancer with Nutrition"). Unless he has a genetic cause for the cancer, there must be some reason he came down with it so young. Some of the things I have read that are associated with a risk for colon cancer are a metabolic syndrome ( glucose intolerance/insulin resistance/high cholesterol/high blood pressure), lack of vitamin D and calcium, irritable bowel syndrome/disease, and having a gall bladder removed. I had just about all those problems.

My other advice is keep loving him. He really needs the support right now.

sladich

I had a lung nodule removed in December 2007 and I did not have chemo afterwards. It was the only spot. My scans in April were all clear and I'm due for another set in August. Each person is different as is the cancer. We just never know how agressive it will be. Hang in there. You will get advice from the doctor's after surgery.

Debbie

taraHK

Hi Jenny,
I was diagnosed with rectal cancer 5.5 years ago. I have had three recurrences -- each time a solitary nodule in the lung, which was amenable to surgery. As others have said, the fact that his doctor is recommending surgery is great. In my case, they referred to this as "surgery with curative intent". (Love that word "cure"!). Whether to do chemotherapy after the surgery is controversial. In my case, I had chemo after the first two lung surgeries. However, I know of others who have not. Since I am relatively young (50! but I feel young) and fit and have two kids still at home, I wanted to be as aggressive as possible in wiping out any possible remaining cancer cells (invisible) and my oncologist was sympathetic to this. I was lucky in that I tolerated the chemo pretty well each time. However, I am not having chemo following this last surgery. I agree with others that it is worthwhile having a good discussion with your doctor about the pros and cons -- and possibly seeking out a second opinion. If he is not being seen at a major cancer center currently, you might want to consider that. If there is chemo after surgery, it would usually start about 1 month after surgery, at least, to give the body time to heal....So, there is time....Best wishes to you and your boyfriend as you face the next hurdle in your journey....
Tara

Moesimo

I would get a second opinion at a major cancer center.

Maureen

impactzone

I am stage 4 and after 10 months chemo and liver resection, 2 lung mets showed up. They did a lobectomy and then no chemo from the ons at Stanford. They said, we have no way to track its effectiveness and the risk is not worth the potential benfits. They just want 3 month monitoring and keep the chmeo in their pocket for possible future use.
Impactzone

jenalynet

impactzone said:

I am stage 4 and after 10 months chemo and liver resection, 2 lung mets showed up. They did a lobectomy and then no chemo from the ons at Stanford. They said, we have no way to track its effectiveness and the risk is not worth the potential benfits. They just want 3 month monitoring and keep the chmeo in their pocket for possible future use.
Impactzone

I had a nodule removed in June 2008 from my left lung and my oncologist and surgeon said the same thing about giving me chemo..I am satisfied with my decision. It's good to discuss this with your oncologist.